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It took me 11 months to see my first glimpse of light; and it was wonderful.

Tonight, i felt the true power of Aikido flowing through my body.

yes, i know: 11 months isn't considered anything more than your first baby step. 11 months is nothing. but when you try and show up as much as you can, making mistake after mistake, trying to get some sort of bearing, it's a wonderful feeling when something finally goes right.

it was irimi nage. simple technique, nothing we all haven't done a thousand times. but for the first time tonight, i manipulated someone twice my size like he was a feather. i felt like i had all the power in the world, like i just fired a gun for the first time.

i've always read about connecting, welcoming an attack, loving your enemy, and good timing, but when they all click together for the first time, it was one of the most empowering experiences i've ever felt.

do you guys remember the first time you were in complete control of someone? when it finally started to click? how did you feel?

Full control of someone? Difficult to claim, even more difficult to accomplish. Never been there, sorry. I would be more than glad to have obtained control of 10% of my own life, let alone somebody else.

I've had a few instances in my training where I had to stop and ask my partner "Did you just let me do that?" and they deny that they just let me do that to them and tell me they were resisting 100%. Those moments always confuse me.

it was irimi nage. simple technique, nothing we all haven't done a thousand times. but for the first time tonight, i manipulated someone twice my size like he was a feather. i felt like i had all the power in the world, like i just fired a gun for the first time.

i've always read about connecting, welcoming an attack, loving your enemy, and good timing, but when they all click together for the first time, it was one of the most empowering experiences i've ever felt.

do you guys remember the first time you were in complete control of someone? when it finally started to click? how did you feel?

I remember several times when I was astounded by how easily the waza work when they REALLY work. Like you said, everything clicks, and there they go...it is an amazing feeling, and training to reproduce those moments is a lot of fun.

Best,
Ron

Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)

Haha, the guy who got me interested in Aikido used to say that all the time, he was a good friend who I haven't seen in years. Thanks for the huge smile

Back to topic: The first technique I felt I had good control on was Irimi-Nage, too. Right in time for my 5th Kyu test!
Howver, since then, every time we were doing Irimi-Nage, I initially thought "Ahh finally something I know front to back", only to find out there's still a huge gap between consistent and acceptable Irimi-Nages and where I am, especially if my Uke is new to Aikido and doesn't know what to expect.

The first time that my aikido really surprised me with its effectiveness was during my 4th kyu testing. I was working with two uke, and I blended perfectly with two shomen uchi attacks, resulting in two beautifully executed techniques. It felt like I'd hardly touched them. (This was due, no doubt, to quite a bit of good luck and not to a high level of skill. ) Regardless of it's cause, this occurence just plain freaked me out. I looked with wonder at my sensei, as if to say "Holy crap! Did you see that?! Is that how you feel all the time?!".

While I stood there slack jawed, one of my uke popped up and nailed me on the noggin. So I achieved a personal victory that night, but I still had the outward appearance of a colossall screw-up.

"The only difference between Congress and drunken sailors is that drunken sailors spend their own money." -Tom Feeney, representative from Florida

I've only been training a bit over a year. There have been a small handful of times where I have done a technique and felt virtually nothing, the uke and other students will just react with a "WHOA-HO! That was GREAT!" and I just feel like "What? Are you joking? Nothing happened. I didn't do anything - uke just fell over before I barely touched him."

But to uke and the observers I did do something.. I'd like to think I had a moment of Aikido-coolness, but I have to admit, I'm skeptical!

I'm still trying to figure it all out.. I probably annoy all my ukes with my constant "Are you feeling that?!" because I can't tell if my uke is just plopping over or whether I'm doing it right. I think sometimes it's the former, and sometimes it's the latter.

I feel like I learn much more from being uke, because that's the only time I feel what's going on. I'd be interested to know how more experienced people are able to *know* they are doing it right when you get that feeling that uke just willingly crumbled to the mat even if they didn't.

There's no cooler feeling to me than being the recepient of a really well-done Aikido technique. Now that I'm a little less flinchy and sometimes manage to give people some sincere energy as uke, I love going for that "ride".

I've done this on several techniques now. Every time that I've done this, I knew right then and there that the techniqe was spot on. I'm either the lightest or close to the lightest guys in the dojo. One time I slightly hurt my uke {wind knocked out}. He had to take a 5 minute break. The Sensei came over to ask what happened and when uke explained to him the situation, the Sensei said "..what you just felt was Aikido". Now the trick is to get that feeling again when I want it and not by accident. Being on the other end of it is also pretty cool. When I visited honbu, the Sensei had me flat on my back during iriminage and I didn't feel a thing! I still have memory gaps on what exactly happened during the technique!

A long time ago my sensei had the few of us who were in class working on blending. The technique was some sort of sankyo projection, and on one of the passes I swear all I did was blend, connect, and move. It was as if the kid wasn't even there. I wasn't focused on throwing uke, but he flew halfway across the dojo. Upon seeing this, my sensei said something like, "Yes, that's it! Now do it every time."
Now, uke was very cooperative, but I have experienced that feeling a few times since then with more intent ukes. I'm always left with the epiphany of, "That's all I have to do?!" It's like magic, and incredibly anti-intuitive. Perhaps with a few decades of training...

Full control of someone? Difficult to claim, even more difficult to accomplish. Never been there, sorry. I would be more than glad to have obtained control of 10% of my own life, let alone somebody else.

i hope you're not this harsh on all beginners, although your opinion seems to be the popular one.

i'm just trying to say that after 11 months of dedication and frustration, i have seen a glimpse that i am actually improving, as opposed to just spinning my wheels. and whether i had "full control" of him or not, he ended up down on the mat, which is much better than what i was doing before.

just trying to share a happy moment with you guys; i'll make sure to choose my words a lot more carefully in the future.

Luc, don't get me wrong. It does not have to do with being harsh although yes, after 4 years I am a beginner too and must admit that I still know nothing. It probably has to do with the open sea of information and experience that lies ahead of us.
My first sensei said that up untill the black belt aikidokas seem to be trying to learn the alphabet. After the first Dan do they seem able to start making words. Rumour has it that it is not before the 5 Dan that one is able to make compositions and speek freely in Aikido language. My current sensei admits that the step from Dan 4 to Dan 5 is a huge one and 'manageable' control on situations begins at this era.
Patience, controling situations better will become obvious in many aspects of your life as years pass by and you will probably notice that in real life long before it appears in the dojo practice.
Be well.

Patience, controling situations better will become obvious in many aspects of your life as years pass by and you will probably notice that in real life long before it appears in the dojo practice.
Be well.

thank you for the kind words.

i understand a lot more of your responses now. i'm sorry if i sounded frustrated earlier; the truth is i just didn't understand what you guys were telling me. Aikido is a mountain of knowledge and you will never reach the top.

i can never forget that night, though. for a split iota of a second, i truly felt something. then you get up and it's gone, like it was never there. i'll keep training in search for the next one.